US Patent 12025920 Lithography techniques for reducing defects

A lithography method is described. The method includes forming a resist layer over a substrate, performing a treatment on the resist layer to form an upper portion of the resist layer having a first molecular weight and a lower portion of the resist layer having a second molecular weight less than the first molecular weight, performing an exposure process on the resist layer, and performing a developing process on the resist layer to form a patterned resist layer.